


Bumblebee Pins

by Robomantic



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bad Boy Dean, Bullying, Castiel Does Not Care About Gender Norms, Happy Ending, Homophobia, Inspired By Tumblr, M/M, Slurs, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 18:56:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8025250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Robomantic/pseuds/Robomantic
Summary: In which Cas goes to school with his new bumblebee bobby pins in his hair and faces some bullying for his choice, one of the last people he expected stands up for him (and kisses him), and he finds out people on the internet aren't all bad.





	Bumblebee Pins

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my google docs for way too long so I figured I'd just go ahead and post it! I know this was inspired by a prompt on Tumblr, but it's been so long that I can't find it! Also, please let me know if I missed any tags, I know there's some rough and triggery moments in what is mostly meant to be a cute little fic. I have tagged Cas as genderfluid, but basically he considers himself male, uses he/him pronouns, but does not otherwise choose to conform to gender norms/expectations. Please let me know if there's a better term for what I'm trying to describe.

Castiel had always marched to the beat of his own drum. Or so certain older brothers of his had told him (sometimes fondly, sometimes not so much). It wasn’t some decision he had made or something he did to make trouble, he just had strange interests and rarely thought to hold himself back from them. That was why he didn’t hesitate when he found the little gold bumblebee bobby pins on one of his more bizarre trips down the internet rabbit hole. He had a little money in his paypal account from selling some trading cards on ebay so he just went for it and honestly didn’t even think about what he’d do with them. He’d always been fascinated by bees and they were just so charming… He just wanted them and he’d decide what to do with them later. Let no one ever say Castiel was immune to impulse purchases. 

After about a week of waiting, the day came when Castiel finally came home from school to find a little orange bubble mailer sitting on his desk. He grinned broadly and opened the package to find the two little gold bumblebee pins inside along with a little card thanking him for his purchase. For a moment Cas just enjoyed turning the pins over in his hand, watching them shine in the waning light through his bedroom window. Then he stood up and walked over to the mirror on the back of his closet, suddenly curious if his hair was even long enough to hold them. 

For the sake of experiment, he fiddled with them and tried to slide them into his hair. He didn’t have much experience with bobby pins and it took him a while to figure out how to hold one slightly open with a finger so that he could slide it into his hair. It seemed that his hair was just long and unruly enough to hold the weight of the bobby pin quite well. Cas went a little further with his experiment and put the other pin in, trying it first on the opposite side of his head and then on the same side near the other one. He decided he liked having both on one side. He could almost imagine the two gilded bees buzzing around each other in a little dance. He smiled at himself in the mirror for a moment and then took the pins out, setting them gently on his dresser before heading downstairs for dinner. 

The next morning Cas woke up to the sun beaming in through the blinds. Even with his eyes blurry from sleep, the shine of the bumblebee pins caught his eye from where they sat on his dresser. He tilted his head and considered them for a moment. What was the point of having something nice if you weren’t going to use them? He decided they would be a waste of money if he didn’t wear them out at least once and immediately he felt a little giddy rush of excitement. He remembered how much he’d liked the look of them in his hair the day before and before any kind of common sense or reality check could kick in, he was up and getting dressed. He wore a dark deep green shirt that he thought would look nice with the pins and a pair of khaki pants. Admittedly his wardrobe didn’t allow for much variation, but he did his best with what he had. As soon as he was dressed Cas stood in the mirror and fiddled with the pins until he had them the way he wanted them. It didn’t take as much time to get it right this time and soon he was grinning at his reflection and the little golden bees tucked into dark messy hair. 

Cas was used to being the only one in the house most mornings, it came with the territory of being the youngest and the only Novak still in high school. As usual, he made his breakfast (and was maybe far too amused by his own choice to eat Honey Nut Cheerios) and locked up after himself before tucking his house key in the front pocket of his bookbag and heading out to catch the bus. 

It wasn’t long after that Cas’s naive bliss was shattered. Most of the other kids on the bus were half zombies, still more asleep than awake, but that didn’t stop one of them from noticing Cas’s choice of accessory. 

“What the hell are you wearing, kid?” came a voice from behind Cas. The kid was definitely older and probably didn’t even know Cas’s name. Honestly, Cas didn’t know his name either. He turned back and squinted at the older boy, unsure of what to say to that question. Apparently, he wasn’t required to answer as one of his other fellow bus-riders decided to speak up for him.

“He’s wearing frickin’ hair clips! Little sparkly hair clips!” The kid shouted, laughing loud enough that if no one else had heard before, they certainly knew now. Cas rolled his eyes and slumped down in his seat, obstinately refusing to remove the pins. He liked them and he didn’t really care what they said. Still, his heart was racing and he was already considering taking them out as soon as he was out of eyesight, but his pride just wouldn’t let him. 

Luckily, the bus driver managed to quiet everyone down before the taunting could reach a crescendo, but even she gave Cas an odd look and shook her head at him as he climbed off the bus. Cas clenched his jaw and resolved not to cry and not to take the pins out. He could survive one day. He wasn’t going to give anyone the satisfaction. He knew word would get around and if they saw that he’d taken the pins out, they’d know they had won. 

First hour was a repeat of the bus ride, but maybe a little worse. The groggy homeroom teacher didn’t seem to have it in him to do much to keep the students quiet and Cas got the feeling that he wouldn’t be interested even if he did. 

Between first and second hour Cas had probably about fifteen different pictures taken of him in the hall. Some snapchats, some instagram, some twitter, and some for facebook. He knew that because that was all anyone could talk about in third hour. By lunch, he was about as viral as anything that happened at Lawrence High could get and he was nearly ready to break his vow to not cry. The worst part was that now he realized the teasing was not going to stop after he took them out or after that day even. He would be dealing with the repercussions of one stupid choice for the rest of the year probably. 

“So what are you gay or are you one of those guys that wants to be a chick?” Came a voice from behind Cas. Suddenly Dick Roman, the only teenager rich and popular enough to get away with being named Dick, was loudly dropping his tray down next to Cas. Cas took a deep breath and thought about getting up. He didn’t much feel like eating anyway, really. Just as he was thinking of going to dump his tray, one of Roman’s many lackeys dropped in on his other side.

“Pretty sure even trannies are polite enough to answer when someone is speaking to them,” the new addition to the table added. Cas recognized him as Edgar, one of Roman’s closest cronies. 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cas finally muttered. It was pretty weak, but to be honest he wasn’t exactly trying to pick a fight. He was a big enough target as it was. 

“Oh, I’m sure we don’t. Why don’t you enlighten us, Cassie? What’s it like to be a woman trapped in a man’s body?” Roman asked. Cas wondered if Roman knew his name before he became internet famous in a single morning. 

“I think you’re being a little too generous.  
body?” Edgar added, giving Castiel’s slight frame a once over. Roman laughed and Cas realized the lunch room was surprisingly quiet, almost every head turned their way to see what would happen. Cas was frozen in place. He didn’t know what to do. How could he get away without looking like a wimp or getting his ass kicked? While his mind turned, panicked thoughts racing through his head, a few new people joined the table. Cas assumed it was either eager onlookers or more of Roman’s friends, but he was surprised to see he was wrong. 

Dean Winchester had just chosen to sit across from him along with Benny Lafitte and Victor Henriksen. In other words, the only group of guys more intimidating than Roman’s crew had decided to join the fray. Just fantastic. 

“Hey Roman, who told you you could sit at our table?” Dean asked, barely taking his attention away from the fries he was shoveling in his mouth. 

“This isn’t your table, Winchester.” Edgar jumped in, quick to rise to Roman’s defense as usual. 

“It is now,” Dean said grinning with his mouth stuffed full of fried potato. Cas’s eyes widened. Had he somehow found himself in the middle of some high school showdown or something? 

“The fuck you think you’re doing, Winchester? Here to help your pretty little girlfriend out?” 

“Pretty, maybe. Girlfriend, no. Either way, doesn’t matter. He’s welcome and you’re not. Now don’t make me waste my lunch period on you. You know how much I hate it when people get between me and my food,” Dean said, still with a cocky grin and gesturing with the hamburger clutched in his fist for emphasis. Next to him Benny and Henriksen chuckled. 

Roman glared for a couple of beats before pasting on one of the most insincere and chilling smiles Castiel had ever seen and getting up with his tray in hand. Edgar followed his lead. 

“Come on, Edgar. Let’s move along. Who are we to get in the way of true love?” Roman said, making sure that his parting shot was loud enough to be heard by the entire cafeteria. Cas heard several people chuckle quietly, but not many were stupid enough to get involved in the rivalry between Winchester and Roman. 

“You know, he wasn’t entirely wrong,” Dean said, scooting his tray across the table and getting up to come sit next to Cas. Cas’s heart sunk. Had he just wanted to get Roman out of the way so he could make fun of Cas? 

“Wh-what?” Cas asked, suddenly nervous to have Dean Winchester so close to him, particularly after what Roman had said. He assumed there would be a whole new rumor added to the mix about how he and Dean were having a secret gay love affair. 

“I mean, you are pretty. They are, I mean. The hairpins,” Dean said, nodding toward them before going back to shoveling food in his mouth. Cas was shell-shocked for a moment. He looked up to read Benny and Henriksen’s reactions, but they were both eating and mocking Roman amongst themselves, laughing at the way Edgar followed him around like a puppy dog. 

Castiel no longer gave a single crap what people thought. Dean Winchester, resident macho tough guy badass of Lawrence High, complimented his hair pins without a single trace of sarcasm or mockery. In fact, he may have complimented Cas himself a little too, Cas was still unsure over whether or not Dean intended to say that HE was pretty rather than his hair pins. 

“Thank you,” Cas said, quietly. Dean just looked up at him with those almost unrealistically green eyes and grinned and shrugged before turning his focus back on his lunch tray with an obscene gusto. Cas felt something in his chest flutter. He had always been objectively aware that Dean Winchester was attractive. He was neither blind nor stupid, but it had never mattered much to him. He always kept his distance and didn’t think too much on it because he had, clearly wrongfully, put Dean and his crew in the same category as Roman and his. Now, though, seeing him up close and personal, being defended by him and complimented by him… Well, that was another story. 

Cas suddenly felt eyes on him and realized Benny and Henriksen were both looking at him. It was only then that Cas realized he’d spaced out and was pretty brazenly staring at Dean as he ate. 

“I honestly don’t see how you’re doing that. I watch him eat too long and my stomach starts to turn,” Benny said with a look of almost impressed wonder. Henriksen snorted a laugh and Dean finally pulled his attention away from his lunch long enough to realize something was going on around him. Before he could be embarrassed any further, Cas snatched up his lunch tray and took off, dumping it and dropping it in the window with a quickness and making his way toward the best place he could think of to hide, the library. 

Cas had been so focused on getting away and hiding from his embarrassment as quickly as possible, that he hadn’t noticed he’d been followed. 

“Hey! Wait up! CAS!” A husky voice called out from behind him. Dean Winchester caught up and stopped beside Cas, looking a little out of breath. 

“Damn you’re fast. Just give me a second,” Dean said leaning forward with his hands on his knees for a second before straightening up. 

“Look, I have to-” Cas started, scrambling for a way out, but he was interrupted.

“Hey, it can wait. I dumped like half my fries for you!” Dean said. Cas had seen the way the guy ate so he attempted to take that comment for what it was worth and waited patiently for Dean to continue. 

“Look, I think I missed something that happened back there, but I gather my dumbass friends did something stupid and I just want to apologize for them. I’m pretty sure they were both raised by rude ass wolves,” Dean said, rubbing the back of his neck contritely. 

“No… It’s not them, really. I just- I just have a bad habit of embarrassing myself at this school, that’s all,” Cas said. For some reason he felt strangely guilty about having Dean apologize to him. 

“What are you talking about? The hair pins? It’s not your fault our school is full of bunch of jackasses with no taste. I meant what I said, they’re pretty on you,” Dean said, now smiling and stepping a little closer to brush a loose lock of hair that had fallen over the hairpins in Cas’s rush to escape the lunch room. Cas felt a rush of warmth and he was pretty sure his ears were burning bright red. 

“Well at first you said _I_ was pretty…” Cas said in a moment of uncharacteristic boldness. He had a sudden urge to put a little bit of embarrassment in Dean’s hands if only to lighten his own burden a little, but Dean didn’t turn red like Cas. He just leaned in a little bit closer.

“I meant that too,” Dean whispered, his voice low and warm in Cas’s ear. That was about all Cas could take. Something in him just snapped crackled and potentially popped because suddenly his arms were around Dean’s neck and he was kissing him, clumsily and a little forcefully maybe, but he was kissing Dean Winchester right in the middle of the hall. And Dean was kissing him back. Suddenly Cas’s back was against a wall or a door or maybe a locker, he really didn’t know or care which and Dean was coaxing him into a less clumsy rhythm, his strong arms bracketing Cas safely away from the world for just a moment. 

“Gentleman, this is neither the time nor place,” a voice said from somewhere to their left. They apparently hadn’t noticed a teacher had come out of his classroom and was looking at them rather disapprovingly, his arms crossed over his chest and an eyebrow raised. 

“Oh, sorry sir. We were just practicing our vertical CPR. Safety first, right?” Dean said with a cocky wink. Cas might have laughed if he weren’t so mortified. Instead he just cringed. 

“Where are you two supposed to be?” the teacher asked. Cas had seen him, but he wasn’t familiar with him. He’d never had a class with that particular teacher before. Dean’s swagger apparently could only get them so far, so Cas spoke up. 

“Library, sir.” The teacher simply pointed them away and they continued down the hall under his watchful eye until they turned the corner and he finally retreated into his classroom. They still had a little free time until lunch period was over so Cas didn’t really know what to do other than actually go to the library like they’d said. Dean matched stride with him and confidently grabbed his hand, fingers entwined with Cas’s up all the way until the point where they had to switch to single file in order to walk through the library door. 

Cas’s hand felt warm and he felt a little giddy… and a little terrified. This was definitely more than he’d bargained for when he’d put the hairpins in that morning, but it was also quite a bit nicer than the mocking and derision he’d come to expect from the day given how badly the first half went. 

The librarian barely looked up from her computer screen to acknowledge them so Dean pulled them as far back into the shelves as they could go before pressing him against a shelf full of nonfiction books about world cultures. Cas hadn’t really known for sure that they were planning on hiding and making out more, but he was not going to complain that things had worked out that way. In fact, he was more than happy with that result right up until Dean’s hand slid down and cupped his ass. 

For a moment, Cas was thrilled and a little turned on and then the next he was panicking and pulling away from Dean, his heart in his throat. It was a little too much too soon and he would be lying if he said it didn’t make him question Dean’s motives. After all, Dean had never really shown interest in him before that day, why was he suddenly all over Cas? Maybe he’d taken the hairpins as a sign that Cas was gay and therefore suddenly a viable option for… whatever he had in mind. 

“Whoa, what’s wrong?” Dean asked, interrupting Cas’s spiraling inner monologue.

“Your hand…” Cas muttered, unable to fully verbalize the path his mind had taken that led to him standing a good three feet away, pale as a sheet. 

“Oh damn, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to push anything, I just… got a little carried away, you know?” Dean said and for what it was worth he looked genuinely contrite. For the first time, he was the one blushing, but Cas wasn’t sure if his cheeks were flushed with shame or just from the activity they’d been up to only moments before. 

“What is it you want from me? Why are you suddenly so interested in me?” Cas snapped. Dean looked a little startled. 

“What? I just like you. Look, I screwed up. I shouldn’t have moved so fast, I’m sorry. It was a mistake.” Dean said, now brilliantly red and definitely embarrassed. Cas softened a little. 

“I just mean, I didn’t even know you liked me. Or even knew who I was. Just seems a little fast and…” 

“And you know my reputation,” Dean finished for Cas. Cas grimaced and nodded. He hadn’t really meant to imply that, but it was true. Dean had a bit of a reputation for moving fast with a lot of people. 

“Yeah, I get it. That’s… I get that,” Dean said, his hand on the back of his neck again, “But that isn’t what I’m trying to do with you,” he finished, finally looking Cas in the eyes again, resolute.

“If you want the truth, you’re the only guy I’ve ever thought about that wasn’t some celebrity or porn star or something. I mean, you’re the only reason I ever knew I was more than just curious about guys. Do you know how many classes we’ve had together since last year? Because I could tell you every one of them,” Dean said. 

Cas’s eyes dropped to the floor and he crossed his arms. He found himself getting a little irritated because it was very hard to believe that Dean Winchester had been secretly mooning over him since freshman year in between flings with every half decent looking girl in Douglas county. 

“Freshman year, we had homeroom, gym, and english together. We weren’t in the same math class because you took a higher level class than me. Mid-semester I switched electives from auto mechanic shop to journalism just to have another class with you. I went from an A in an a class I could do with one hand tied behind my back to a low C in a class that bored me to tears, just to be closer to you!” Dean said, clearly exasperated by Cas’s disbelief. 

Come to think of it, Cas actually remembered when Dean switched into his journalism class. He always thought it had more to do with his on again off again fling, Lisa Braeden being in journalism, but maybe not. Cas was pretty sure Dean was right about the other classes they were in together too. He relaxed his arms a little and looked Dean in the eyes, searching for some sign of dishonesty. 

“Look, I’m sorry. I guess I’m used to things moving a little faster and I was a little over- you know-”

“Zealous?” 

“Well I was going to say stimulated, but that works too,” Dean said and Cas blushed a little, “But if you want to go slow, I’ll be like molasses in January.” 

“Really? I mean, you wouldn’t rather be with someone a little less uptight?” 

“Cas, I don’t think you’re uptight just because you don’t want me man-handling your ass the first day we start dating,” Dean said rolling his eyes. 

“Dating?” Cas asked, tilting his head to the side. 

“Um, yeah. I mean if you want to,” Dean said, shrugging and doing his best to act nonchalant. Cas took pity on him and pulled him in to give a kiss, just a small sweet peck this time. 

“I’d like that,” Cas said as their lips parted. For the entire rest of the day, his hand was in Dean’s every time they saw each other between classes and the funniest part was that now that all the potential rumors that he was gay were proven true, some of the wind seemed to be taken out of everyone’s sails. Maybe that was partially because Dean would kick someone’s ass if they said anything, but Cas was pretty sure that wasn’t the entire reason. 

At one point when he was alone and getting a drink from the water fountain, Edgar walked past him and fake-sneezed “Homo” at Cas as he walked by. For some reason, Cas laughed so hard he snorted water out his nose. Edgar looked bewildered and a little irritated at Cas’s reaction, but that just made him laugh harder until a teacher came out into the hall and they both had to apologize and hustle to their respective classes. The assholes he had to deal with just didn’t seem so scary now that he wasn’t dealing with them alone. 

That night (after Dean insisted on giving Cas a ride home in his dad’s insanely cool Impala), Cas got a message on facebook with a link to tumblr. He sighed and figured it was probably more people mocking him and his hair pins because he’d already seen himself on facebook and twitter enough times that night and it was almost (just almost) enough to ruin his good mood. Against his best interest, Cas clicked the link anyway. He was looking at a chunk of text bracketed by a background that appeared to be llamas dressed up as Sherlock and Watson. 

_“Oh. My. God. Cutest freaking thing happened at my school today. This guy at my school (kinda quiet and cute) came in with these little honeybee bobby pins in his hair and everyone started giving him shit and making fun of him for it BUT this guy (obnoxious bad boy type but also really cute) totally stuck up for him at lunch from this douche nozzle rich kid we go to school with. THEN they disappear together for awhile and suddenly the whole rest of the day they’re holding hands. CUTEST. THING. EVER.”_

Cas looked down at the notes for the post and apparently it had been reblogged quite a few times with people adding in reaction gifs and keyboard smashes, all of it generally in agreement that it was the cutest thing they’d ever heard. Cas was a little bewildered, but it was honestly such a nice change of tone, with plenty of people condemning his bullies and supporting his choice to wear whatever hair accessories he damn well pleased, that he couldn’t help smiling.


End file.
